Optical servo system for a tape drive

A system for aligning a head with at least one of a plurality of data tracks written on a first side of a data storage media as said media passes over said head, wherein said media also includes optical servo features formed on a second side of said media, said system comprising:

• an optical circuit that detects at least a portion of said optical servo features reflected from said second side of said media;
• an electrical circuit, operatively coupled to said optical circuit, that aligns said head with said at least one of a plurality of data tracks in response to said detected optical servo fields;
• and
• a media drive, wherein the head is moveable attached to the media drive, and wherein the optical circuit comprises an optical sensor that is fixedly attached to the media drive.

A tape library comprising a plurality of tape drives, at least a portion of said tape drives comprising:

• means for reading at least one optical feature reflected from the storage media;
• means for reading at least one optical feature reflected from the head;
• and
• means for aligning the head to the storage media based upon the at least one optical feature reflected from the storage media and the at least one optical feature reflected from the head.

In a tape library comprising a plurality of tape drives, at least a portion of said tape drives operable for aligning a head with a storage media and comprising the steps of:

• reading at least one optical feature reflected from the storage media;
• reading at least one optical feature reflected from the head;
• and
• aligning the head to the storage media based upon the at least one optical feature reflected from the storage media and the at least one optical feature reflected from the head.